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Our Team
Ray Lacen
Is our Executive Director, founded Ray's The Roof House The Homeless Foundation a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization in 2019. Our mission is to house the homeless, feed the hungry & assist people with special needs, the elderly, our Veterans, and under resourced youth enjoy a better quality of life. We provide food to local shelters, churches & other non-profits. Through our affiliation with the Food Donation Connection and Outback Steak House, Olive Garden, Strabucks and local small business food donors. We also have an annual Food & clothing drive on MLK day for the homeless. This year we were blessed with a donaton of 204 new coats & shoes for kids ages 2-15 from Operation Warm & Flow Subaru.
Our plans include building safe, affordable housing out of a revolutionary building material not yet widely used in the U S. "M2 Emmedue". We are on track to break ground in Aug of 2024."My 14 years of experience as a Safety Professional especially a position I held as a Safety Inspector on Governor Cooper's NC Rebuild program have well prepared me for the task we have under taken to build Safe, affordable housing & transitional shelters for all in need".
A proud member of Trinity Worship Center, where
Our vision is big because our God is Bigger.
Robert Michel Charest
Is our building consultant, an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at Elon University. He was the founder and director of Urban Studio, a community-oriented design-build effort, at The University of North Carolina Greensboro. His work with Urban Studio has garnered significant external funding, received numerous awards and has been featured in national as well as international design publications. Professor Charest has also published and presented widely in the areas of academic design-build, quality affordable housing and community transformation. Originally from Montréal, Québec, Robert holds a post-professional Master of Architecture in History and Theory from McGill University, a Bachelor of Architecture from Université de Montréal and a Design Diploma from Dawson College. He is an apprenticed master carpenter and held a builder’s license, from La régie du bâtiment du Québec, prior to establishing in the U.S. in 2003. He has taught at Université de Montréal, in the Schools of Architecture and of Industrial Design, as well as at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and The University of North Carolina Greensboro. Prior to becoming a scholar, Robert practiced architecture, as well as interior and product design, in Canada, the U.S. and Israel.
Shonda Sutton
Is the Founder & CEO of Dignity Housing Co, based in Greensboro, NC. Her background includes Social Work, Recruitment, Training, Small Business Consulting & Real Estate Investing.
Ms. Sutton is involved in a variety of community initiatives geared towards the development of more affordable housing. She is also interested in entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment & career / workforce development. Dignity Housing Co.’s flagship project is called Build with Dignity™️, the development of a vacant lot that will serve as a prototype for the merger of manufacturing, construction and community.
Moises Santa Cruz & Alida Carolina Sazo
We moved to Burlington NC from Long Island NY, passionate about God and his people. Serving as Pastors for Hispanic Community at Trinity en Español in Burlington Sunday services held at
11:00 am @ 3157 S Church St,
Burlington, NC 27215. Everyone is welcome. Smile Jesus Loves You :)
Chy Vanhook
My name is Chyieda Vanhook but I go by "Chy", I was born and raised in Burlington NC. I'm 28 years old, I graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with honors in May of 2023. My degree is in Business Administration with a concentration in non-profit management and a minor in criminal Justice. My goal is to one day own my own non-profit. I feel that Burlington does not have enough help, like other major cities that surround us. Perhaps the help is just not advertised like in other cities. Helping people I believe is my calling. It's something that's not on me, it's in me.
Michael Wilson
Michael is a passionate advocate for local and international causes, currently serving as the Community Giving Director at Ray's the Roof House The Homeless Foundation. He leads philanthropy initiatives to cultivate relationships with donors, manage grant programs, and strategically allocate funds to impactful community projects, focusing on feeding the hungry and housing the homeless.
our Volunteers
Ms. Elizabeth
I have always enjoyed doing volunteer work. Love being involved in helping others. My work now with Freedoms Hope Compassionate Ministries & Ray's The Roof... gives me the opportunity to show the love of Christ to the homeless and impoverished. It is very rewarding
join Our Cause
Your support and contributions will enable us to meet our goals and improve conditions for those in need.
